Monday, October 1, 2012

Series 7 - What Did YOU Think?

Coming up on Saturday October 13th is a special podcast looking back at Doctor Who Series 7 (so far) and we'd like your comments on the five episodes to read out on the show! Just leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. You can also Tweet, Facebook or email. Closing date is Wed Oct 10th at 5pm.

27 comments:

My prediction of what would happen to the Ponds was nearly spot on. Beautifully devastating. This was definitely one of the most heartbreaking episodes of Doctor Who in history. The End of Time may be the only one that rivals it. The Angels Take Manhattan was incredibly well done. I believe it ended exactly as it should have, and the impact was strong. Bravo.

It's been an excellent run so far, possibly the five strongest back-to-back stories we've seen in a number of years. The Power of Three was the only weak link because of its rushed ending, and an argument could be made that Moffat's "no two-parters" edict this year was mistimed. But otherwise I'm satisfied at what was a fitting ending for the Ponds (and for once the split season timing makes perfect sense). The future looks bright.

I loved this season. I was worried that, because we knew that the Pond era was ending, that the suspense would dissipate. It didn't. The last five episodes have left me on the edge of my seat. Moffat's fall finale broke my heart but it was so good. I was still feeling the aftermath of episode the next day,which truly means a lot. With a beginning like this, I only hope the rest of the season will be able to live up to expectations.

My only complaints are two: there's no story arc (or at least a much subtler one involving lightbulbs & Christmas), and it feels like less is happening in each episode. They're just as long, but less is happening in the plot.

It still feels like the big blockbuster events Moffat promised because each episode stands out on its own so much. Also, the main spoiler in episode one was probably the best-kept secret in all of Doctor Who history, even better then the fact that David Tennant is returning this Christmas.

Can't agree with this, thought this was the worst series of the Doc to date! Amy and Rory deserved a better send off and how many times did she blink in front of the Angel? Started off brilliant with a clever episode The Daleks Asylum but sadly, for me, went down hill from there.

The transition to cinematic one-off episodes payed off greatly, in my opinion. All of the episodes were quite good and visually top-notch. "Asylum of the Daleks" made me look at the Ponds and the overarching plot to Series 6 in a more positive light. "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" was a non-stop fun ride. "A Town Called Mercy" had a thematically solid story that did its genre justice. "The Power of Three" made me miss the Ponds before they left, and The Angels Take Manhattan was supremely creepy and sufficiently heartbreaking. In short, Series 7.0 made me incredibly excited for the nine episodes in our near future. If I had to pick a favorite episode out of the bunch, it would be "A Town Called Mercy" with "The Angels Take Manhattan" a close second.

All in all I think this was the bestbatch of episodes so far for the Moffat era. I did not like the majority of last season, wherer Mofat was trying to be too clever for his own good, and leaving the only good episodes as standalones penned by other writers.

This season has been much stronger though. I very much enjoyed Asylum, Mercy and Power of Three. Angels was again suffering from Moffat's attempts to be too clever, but overall I found it less confusing and more entertaining than any of the arc episodes from last year or the year before. So that only really leaves Dinosaurs as the only episode of the bunch that I thought was a real turd. So, upon reflection, things seem to be getting better and that can only be a good thing.

"Asylum" was good, but flawed. Given some thought, it was chock-full of plotholes, enough to hamper my enjoyment of the episode in the end.

"Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" was amazingly fun, I would even say better than "Asylum", because it made enough sense for a "romp" episode.

"A Town Called Mercy" was probably one of the best Doctor Who episodes ever. For once some serious moral questions were tackled. The number of people I've seen give it low marks seem to do so only because it wasn't a black and white story about the Doctor in shining armor saving the day.

"Power of Three" wasn't bad, but it was disappointing. With all the ideas present in it, it could have been so much better.

"Angels Take Manhattan" was good as well, but tension was weirdly jumping up and down for no reason. I still enjoyed it, but... still think it could have been better.

Overall, one of the best runs of Doctor Who since the revival, but Steven Moffat still has to learn a lot about pacing and how to not negate emotional investment viewers put in his plots and characters with one "cool" decision.

Some great episodes, further cementing the superiority of writing and production values from 2010 onwards. The show is now cracking North America - actually saw a kid with a Doctor Who T-shirt walking down a street the other day, taking my breath away! While Rory and Amy will be missed, I'm excited to see the new companion and the 50th anniversary year.

Enjoyed it immensely... but somehow, I'm finding myself a little less excited about the show than I used to be.

The problem? I think it's that the big episodes are so big, and so exciting, that the normal episodes are starting to feel smaller by comparison. Asylum of the Daleks was bloody terrific, but keeping that spoiler so close to their chests gave them very little room to expand.

Corking series, comprising three stellar episodes and two very good ones from Chris Chibnall, but I'm not constantly thinking about the show between episodes. Even when I knew the Ponds (my favourite companions!) were due to leave, there wasn't the trepidation, the excitement of a series finale. None of the giddy exhilaration of sitting down to see what was going to happen with the cracks, or to find out what Torchwood was - I was just sitting down for another episode of Doctor Who. Turned out to be an absolutely episode, one of Moffat's best (and he always brings the noise!) but I can't work out whether my reduced excitement is because the show's doing something different or because I'm doing something different. Whether the show's getting older or I'm getting older. I hope not, I'm only 22!

It might be that I miss the arcs, or runs of thirteen episodes. Maybe I miss changes of cast, or maybe it's the long waits for nothing-too-special, but every series was better than the previous up to and including series 5, until series 6 felt a bit clumsier than its predecessor, and series 7... is great, but not setting me alight.

It's beautiful, well-written, exciting, wonderfully acted - but there's been something missing since 2011 that I can't quite put my finger on. Still! Great. Good stuff - and a step up from S6, which was itself no slouch. Well done, Ponds. Take a bow!

I thought series 7 was all pretty weak tbh. Every episode seem to lack pace and felt bloated and rushed. The episodes didnt live up to their blockbuster titles either. Asylum didnt really give us enough daleks (varieties anyway) dinosaurs didnt have enough dinosaurs and the angels were really only window dressings. Plus their were some massive plot holes. If the doctor can't go back to new York couldn't Amy and Rory just move to a different state and meet him there?

I think ever since Matt and Karen joined Dr Who and since Steven Moffat has taken over, there has been too many story lines that revolve around Amy and Rory and they always get stuck in some sort of paradox or some sort of situation where time has to rewrite itself. Apart from that, I have enjoyed series 7 and was sad to see Amy and Rory leave, but it's time for a change :)

I've got to say ever since Matt, Karen and Steven Moffat took over Dr Who, there have been too many story lines that involve paradoxes or story lines where time has to be rewritten. It seems like everything revolves around Amy and Rory. Still, it was sad to see them go, but it's about time for a change and I have enjoyed series 7 :)

Series 7... Hmm. I think there were some definite very strong points (Daleks, Power of three, Angels take Manhattan). The other two - enjoyable but just lacking...something.

I think SteeMo has gone too far in the other direction - from complicated and hugely drawn out (in a good way) story arcs, to having no real story arc at all.

The little journey that Doctor and the Ponds went on regarding real life versus Doctor life, and the adjustments both parties had to make could well be counted as something of an arc, but mainly as just, well, story.

Maybe the remainder of the series will reveal that there have indeed been seeds sewn for a fantastic reveal, but I'm not sure if that works with splitting the series.

I think the cliffhanger is the missing part of the jigsaw. I am very much looking forward to how Jenna Louise Coleman (J-LoC?) is written back in, but everything else seems to have been resolved. I'm as excited about the remainder of S7 as the next *insert word less offensive than Whovian here* is, but in terms of talking points and theories about what will happen next - I'm stumped.

Series 7 has been really mixed so far. It started off incredibly badly with Asylum of the Daleks. I would list off the episode's endless problems but Doctor Who critic MrTARDISreviews already did that in a review that was almost as long as the episode (yes, there was that much wrong with it). Seriously, watch the review. The guy knows what makes good and bad television*.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0al-NSWkXc

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was fun. Not perfect, but still a decent 45 minute piece of entertainment and I enjoyed it.

A Town Called Mercy looked great but the morals didn't make any sense and had plot holes the size of the grand canyon.

The Power of Three was great until the ending where the climax dropped the ball in every possible way.

The Angels Take Manhattan was a great emotional send-off but the plot was all over the place and it didn't make much sense.

*Cameron, do you watch MrTARDISreviews? You should post his reviews on the site because he's easily the best Doctor Who critic out there.

I think despite some minor issues with pacing of some episodes, a weak villain ending in Power of Three (that didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things)and some small plot holes, Doctor Who is still the most beautiful, energetic, imaginative, creative, magnificent and lovingly crafted television programme and the last 5 episodes just go to prove that!

Since Rory has been killed so many times in the past I felt that they ending really lacked emotional resonance. They've done the "Rory is gone and now he and Amy must find their way back to one another" story line so many times that their exit left me thinking, "wow, we're doing this again?" Overall it was a fun episode but I still would have rather they decided to go on about their lives and stop traveling with the doctor. If you want a truly emotional exit then rewatch when Rose left the 10th Doctor. Rose was sad, the Doctor was upset, and you really felt the loss. Also, since Amy and Rory went back to NYC years ago would that have them there around the time number 10 and Martha Jones were there battling the daleks? So, they could see him again albeit in another regeneration.

I was a little diapointed my this series as I have been with every Moffat series. I think the episodes Moffat wrote Whilst Russell T Davies was head were exeptional: The Empty Child, The Girl in the Fireplace, Human Nature ect, but maybe being head writer has taken its toll

The 7th series is good so far. I particularly loved the first appearance of Jenna-Louise Coleman in the very first episode. Dinosaurs on a spaceship were fabulous! There were DINOSAURS on a SPACESHIP!!! And the Doctor has a gang. And it was fun, just fun. A town called Mercy (next to Shame and Thank you as I have heard somewhere ;) was rather interesting. Stetson hats, moustached marshall, saloon and alien maniac who blows himself up in a giant egg. Shaken, not stirred. The Power of three felt like we were back in time to RTD era. Earth under attack and the danger has been eliminated in five seconds. But hey! It is the Doctor, he always does that, he is the cleverest guy in the room. And I loved how the Doctor painted the fence. The Ponds should have made him to clean the whole house! The title of the fifth episode has something to do with recent KG´s TV project, no? Anyway the angels were properly scary, it was nice to see River Song again and farewell to Amy and Rory. It was very sad, but it´s time to move forward. And where did Rory go for coffee? Massachusetts? Come on! So, in the middle of the series the future looks quite bright. I do expect the Dalek girl to return, a perfect fit for the Doctor. Together they would scare to death all monsters of the Universe as well. Seriously, I think new full-time companion, which the Doctor, as we had been told, desperately needs is what the doctor (!) prescribed. The series was lacking it recently. So, those 5 episodes were good but not at the same level and I hope those to come would be even better.P.S. I was thinking that the 11th very rarely says sorry, when for the 10th it was a catchphrase. And he said it the last Saturday! Woohoo! Looks like I write scripts for them=)))

Individually, the first 5 episodes of Series 7 were all very good. This is probably the finest run of "first five episodes" the new series has had to date. (Even the sublime Series 5 and 6 had the Dalek and pirate episodes by this point, respectively). These have all been consistently good, with the worst episode maybe having B-minus quality. That's no bad thing.

I am concerned, however, about the series arc. It's clearly too soon to say, however, but there doesn't seem to be a consistent through-line with this series. (Then again, the ingenious Mr. Moffat may have already planted subtle seeds, like the flashing lightbulbs). By this point in previous series we'd already seen Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Mr. Saxon, etc. But apart from hints about the Doctor erasing his identity, these episodes seem perhaps a little too stand-alone.

It seems like the great Moffat might be fixing what isn't broken by overcompensating for the arc-heavy Series 6, which received some backlash. The problem, of course, is that the sixth series was brilliant. If there was a flaw in that series, it's that it didn't have enough of an arc, requiring the viewers to fill in odd gaps. (Just how did Melody cross the Atlantic to Leadworth as a toddler?)

I may be misreading things, but it seems like Moffat has set up Series 5, 6, and 7 as sort of a trilogy, with 5 being the grand first outing (like Star Wars), and 6 being a dark, personal, smaller-scale story (Empire Strikes Back) that leads into the finale of the trilogy and 50th anniversary (Return of the Jedi, duh). The Silence, Dorium's warnings, all of that seemed to dovetail nicely into a season that would end with the 50th anniversary and a climax to the trilogy. But alas, this beginning of Series 7 is so stand-alone, it almost feels like the show forgot about where it left off after Series 6. Now of course, I have faith in Mr. Moffat, and I believe he'll come through (hell I think he'll even get around to explain what caused the Tardis to explode in Series 5), but the ongoing arc this season has been "silent" and it's making me a little nervous.

I also thought that River Song's appearance in Angels Take Manhattan was phenomenal and probably River at her most subtle and understated, which is a good thing. I just hope this isn't her final appearance. She needs to stick around to learn the Doctor's name at the end of the season, and when she leaves I really want Moffat to make good on the things she discusses in Forest of the Dead. I want to see that last date at the Singing Towers, not just have it mentioned in that (admittedly excellent) Series 6 bonus feature.

I'm also left wondering how Series 7 will fit together as a whole. When I buy the DVD, will it feel like one season or two separate seasons? Is the Pond-departure saga just the first act in an overall coherent story? Does that even matter?

But on the whole, yes, this season has been very good. With the notable exception of Oswin appearing, (and then being Dalek-ified and exploding, seriously how do you come back from that?), this has been a very decent run of Doctor Who. But almost too decent. It's been a safe run. Solid, good episodes, but nothing truly mind-blowing. That's what I'm waiting for, something mind-blowing and challenging. That, and the epic Silence story arc to rear its head again.

(read this in a posh english accent please?)Well, Series seven was....interestingAsylum had a GREAT concept but too many plot holes and overacting.Dinosaurs Was A Brilliant fun Romp, i loved it.Mercy was rather plot holey, but good all the samepower has a brilliant, flawless first two acts but the third act.....urrghmanhatten I'm still trying to get over!! Apart from the weeping angel of liberty, Flawless.

I have to say that I've enjoyed the series thus far, and I can usually look over any plotholes and enjoy the show without some kind of flaw killing it for me. The acting had been superb and I've loved all the River Song appearances as well since Season 5.

I did think the Statue of Liberty as an Angel was a bit over the top, but there was a picture of the statue in the elevator background so I'm not that sure how it works exactly. But it was a powerful episode. Love the Angels but I think Moff needs to stick to his Angel Bible as to what they can and can't do so that they won't do things that contradict what they've done before.

I loved Jenna in Asylum and I think she'll be a perky, fun companion and work well with Matt. I think if the companions are interesting enough for Matt he'll stick around for a long time. I think Tom Baker left since he felt the scripts and the companions were not up to snuff or they didn't have better chemistry. Had he had more input into who his companions were he may have played it longer. John Nathan Turner's run wasn't as fun for me.

Dinosaurs was fun, and I love the wild west so Mercy was up my alley. The Power of Three was a great setup but it fell flat at the end simply from the Doctor waving his Sonic Screwdriver around. I think the Sonic has become a cheap, easy out for writers, much like K-9 was back in the day and they need Matt to keep it in his jacket more and only use it when absolutely necessary. Also I think the Power of Three's ending was much like many of the best Star Trek Next Generation episodes where they had a super build up and then jammed the action or resolve into the last 5 minutes. I think Doctor Who suffers a bit from that kind of ill pacing as well. There may be deleted scenes that were cut for time but maybe they should have been left in.

Overall, I love it all and Matt Smith is my favorite as he seems more upbeat and fun than the other Doctors, and his TARDIS looks like the inside of a pinball machine with the lighting and all, and that appeals to me over the RTD TARDIS design which was drab.

Lots of very brilliant ideas, but every single one was rushed and full of plot holes. Plot holes big enough for the Statue of Liberty to tapdance throughMoffat keeps proving time and again that he can't write a coherent canon plot involving established monsters. Even when he himself created the monsters! seriously, the Angels looked at each other all the time with no ill effects, and half the time nobody seemed to be looking at them while they were frozen anyway...At least this season cut-down on the meme repetition lines eating up half the dialogue. also "Power of Three" was the best episode so far this season.

OMG I am not in the UK (I'm in the US) and it doesn't come on iTunes until midnight, but I will watch it now and I am so freaked out like I want to know his name, but I am afraid if I know it and if it is like Bob Smith then I will think of him as a whole new person and it will be kind of weird, don't you think? I just really hope it is not Bob Smith.